The Addams Family Lionel train layout is intriguing for many reasons. First, it has the look and feel of a Lionel Display Layout, which were regularly produced by Lionel as a way for department stores to display and operate Lionel trains and accessories. There is a large following of these layouts. For example, we have in the “Track Plans and Layout Design” Forum on OGR, a 9-page thread on Lionel dealer display layouts. Here is the link:
https://ogrforum.com/...stwar-layouts?page=1
The Addams Family TV show was only on the air for two seasons with 64 shows produced from September 1964 through April 1966. I actually thought it was on TV for a longer period, but that may be because its been rerun in syndication so many times.
Over the years, the Addams Family layout has been discussed on the OGR Forum many times and a recent thread from 20CenturyHudson had a link to a Youtube video that has a compilation of all of the scenes on the show that that the layout appears.
Here are links to the thread and the video:
https://ogrforum.com/topic/a-funny-video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be
The video is first, very funny, and second, it has a treasure trove of shots of the layout, from different angles, that one could probably use to recreate the track plan, including accessories. I seem to recall a track plan of the layout being posted on OGR, but I have not been able to locate it anywhere (the one that comes up is from the theatrical movie from 1993).
The video is our version of the “Zapruda home movie” whereby you are able to take screenshots of the layout that could be used to recreate the Addams Family Lionel Train layout.
This first shot is the best view of the first layout, which has Lionel Super O track (there is a second layout that uses tubular track, it looks to be a 4 foot by 8 foot layout). I estimate the size of the Super O layout to be 5 feet by 9 feet, which was the size for many of the Lionel Factory Display Layouts.
One interesting part of the layout is that the track has a roadbed underneath it. From what I have seen, none of the display layouts used a roadbed. On each picture, I have the time on the video that that it appeared, in case of the first picture, its at 3 minutes and 1 second.
In picture above is from the front left. The accessories in this shot include the No. 252 Automatic Crossing Gate (two of them on each end of the front), a number of trestles including the No. 111 Trestle Set and the No. 110 Graduated Trestle Set, a No. 214 Girder Bridge, two sets of the No. 76 Set of three Boulevard Lamps. I also see the tower for the No. 345 Culvert Unloading Station. There are Super O Switches on the inside track and the outside track.
This next picture is a frontal shot. On the far-left back corner, there is a lighted structure that looks sort of like the building for the automatic gateman, but I can’t immediately identify it.
The next picture is a closer in shot. The No. 342 Culver Loader is show next to the No. 345; the No. 494 Rotary Beacon is right behind the bridge.
This next picture is taken from the control panel side (where Gomez was standing) and clearly shows the No. 342 Culvert Loader. Its also a great shot of the Super O track on the roadbed. The roadbed on the Addams Family Layout is a really nice touch and looks professionally done. In comparison, the Lionel Factory layouts had just painted roadbed color on the plywood.
This next picture is also taken from the same side as the control panel, (on other side of the previous picture and provides the impression that the two trains are on a collision course!), it shows a horse corral, probably for the No. 3356 Operating Horse Car, a No. 334 Operating Dispatch Board, and a No. 260 Illuminated Bumper.
The picture below from the opposite angle (front side), shows the Dispatch Board, and the Rotary Beacon covered with a cylinder to make it look like a water tower. You can also see a flag.
This next picture shows the switch in front of the No. 317 Trestle Bridge, the switch it connects to on the inner track and part of the inner track switch that connects to a siding. Note the light is on for the switch. Love the look of that Super O track on the roadbed!
This next picture is a beautiful shot of the right side of the layout; in the foreground, there is the #334 Dispatching Board, the No. 128 Animated Newsstand (I think) and a No. 89 Flagpole. In the forefront, there is the horse corral, a milk car platform for the No. 3662 Operating Milk Car. The next accessory is a bit hard to see but it looks like the No. 264 Operating Forklift Platform (without the forklift), and the No. 464 Rotary Beacon. Not sure who made that passenger car, its does not look like a Lionel.
Below is a close up of the same area, you can see the guide where the forklift goes on the No. 264, and the general area for the track switch behind the flagpole.
This is another money shot, it’s the control panel! This looks like a professionally done control board, not unlike what was seen on the Lionel Factory Display layouts. Notice the three controlers for the switches on the upper left; a couple of the No. 364c switches and several of the No. 90 push button. I have not exactly figured out how many switches are on the layout, but with only three switches on the panel, I wonder if the sidings were only used to run the accessories and not for running any engines.
Below is another nice shot taken from the control panel side of the bridge, and the 6464-825 Alaska Box car which is relatively rare. The bridge looks like some type of custom bridge. The bridge that they “blowup” looks to be made out of wood. The Santa Fe F3 looks to have seen a better day.
The Alaska Box car tells us something about the age of the layout. The layout does not look like it was custom built for the show, instead it may have been custom built for a well-to-do family or perhaps it was a store display. The No. 334 Dispatch Board, was only produced in the 1957 to 1960 period, so that is another item that helps date the layout.
Below is the only picture on the net that I could find of someone recreating the layout. That said, it does not look like its completely accurate either where the accessories are placed or the track plan itself.
On the wrecks, there looks to be two of them, one with three engines and one with two.
This is the three-engine wreck, note the steam engine below, without a tender. It could be a 2037, which was a great puller.
This is the two-engine wreck, without the steam engine. All of the wrecks seem to use the same footage.
This next picture shows the new layout (probably for the second season). It has a figure eight in the middle and an oval on the outside with the trestle and bridge. The one thing that is noteworthy on that layout is that it had new Lionel equiptment like an 027 Santa Fe Alco passenger set and a steam engine. Perhaps Lionel supplied them in order to get some free product placement.
It was love at first sight, a true love story….
Hopefully over the next few months, I can try and put the track plan together using some of the track planning software.
Lastly, the next two pictures show the trains heading towards each other. Looks like they made a half bridge to film it (and get a longer run). Such drama. Maybe they shot it from the same side and just reversed the film for one of them.
Enjoy!
Sometimes already lit as he pulls it from his pocket 
) 